Biden, Dodd, Kucinich, Gravel and Richardson, any one alone of these “lesser" Democratic presidential candidates has spent more time in elected office than the "top three" combined. They are an extremely experienced group. Who are they and why aren't you hearing about them?
1) Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware). Joe (I feel I can call him “Joe” because I lobbied Congress for a small part of the time he was in office. He was one of our solid liberal votes. We refer to our solid votes by first name. Biden was “Joe.” Joe Kennedy, then a congressman, was “Little Joe.” Any questions?) has represented the State of Delaware in the Senate since 1973 (must have won the seat in a special election?). He is a smart guy who has always been great on the war and most issues of concern to progressives. He likes the sound of his own voice tremendously and as such talks a lot and says repeatable things which get him into trouble on the campaign trail. Readers will remember his little gaff comparing Senator Obama (favorably) to previous black presidential candidates (by extension unfavorably).
2) Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut). Dodd has served in the Senate since 1981 and before that the House. He is liberal on social issues and a strong vote and advocate for the environment and likes to make the point that he is not a millionaire. He is an equally strong whore for the insurance industry (the lifeblood of his state’s economy). He never met a pro-consumer bill that he wouldn’t either kill or screw up. He voted for the 2002 Iraq War resolution. He voted for all the free trade bills. He isn’t given much of a chance.
3) Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland). Dennis a fabulous Congressman, a true progressive. He is known as the peace candidate, and deserves the mantle. He also could be the energy candidate, the health care candidate, etc. If we had ranked choice voting, you could all vote for Dennis as your first choice and then vote for someone who has a chance—maybe that would get him in. Why can’t the Democrats elect someone from their far left? Dennis would be that guy. Jon Stewart mocks him daily as a lefty leprechaun. He isn’t given a snowman’s chance in global warming of winning any primary including Ohio.
4) Senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska). He represented the State of Alaska in the US Senate from 1969 to 1981 before the state started electing only Republicans. He is a complete nut job who thinks we should scrap the income tax and substitute it for a national sales tax (which, if you don’t know is a BAAAAD idea).
5) Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico). Last but definitely not least. Richardson is the one to watch with this group. First, he is the only governor of the bunch (and voters in primaries seem to like governors). Secondly, he is extremely experienced. He is a former US ambassador to the United Nations, a former Secretary of Energy under Bill Clinton and a former Congressman. He is also a self-proclaimed “Hispanic American” who is definitely campaigning for the growing Latino vote in the Democratic party. And he’s not a bad guy. I don’t agree with him on everything, but he’s a decent individual, likable and purportedly a good executive. Don’t count this guy out.
Finally, despite my focus on these five candidates, I can’t resist plugging the candidate whom I’m supporting, Senator John Edwards. Here’s why I think Edwards is the best bet for President: he’s simultaneously the most progressive and the most electable of the viable Democratic candidates. He’s come out for single payer health care, repudiated his former position on the war and articulated a smart and viable policy for going forward, and is the only candidate openly campaigning to do something about poverty. He is a person with the courage of his convictions (something I know is not true of Hillary Clinton and am beginning to suspect is not true of Barack Obama).
Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of column for those of you skimmed it:
*If you need to vote for the best candidate regardless of viability, vote for Kucinich.
**If you want to make the most of your vote, give money to and support Edwards
***Watch Richardson
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